The present invention relates generally to an enclosure or protective cover for a vehicle, and more particularly to an enclosure for a vehicle for use in refinishing a portion of the vehicle. The enclosure of the invention is intended for use both in conjunction with the repair of damage that occurs during the vehicle manufacturing process and in conjunction with after market repairs.
During the production of a vehicle such as an automobile, the body is assembled and painted before the trim, light assemblies and glass is installed. The painted bodies are oven dried in a dryer using heat lamps to accelerate the drying process. If the body is damaged at any time during the manufacturing process, the damaged part of the body must be repaired before the automobile can be shipped. These repairs are usually done after the automobile is completely assembled so as not to interrupt production. However, there are high labor and materials costs involved in the preparation of an automobile for the repair of damage caused during manufacture, and for after market repairs. The current preparation includes covering heat sensitive automobile parts such as bumpers, light assemblies, glass, trim and tires made from plastic or rubber, with foil and masking tape to reflect the radiant heat from driers used to dry the paint applied to the refinished areas. In addition, it is desirable to cover the rest of the automobile to protect it from paint overspray. Accordingly, the present invention was developed to offset these high labor and materials costs.
In its basic form, the present invention relates to a light weight and disposable cover for protecting vehicle surfaces and components from paints, solvents, heat and other hazards when only a portion of the vehicle body is to be refinished. The enclosure of the present invention is relatively inexpensive and is easily adaptable to fit vehicles of different sizes and shapes. A preferred form of the invention comprises a vehicle cover with a substantially transparent central panel which covers the top portion of the vehicle and allows the user to observe the type and color of the vehicle which is being repaired, and side panels prepared from a heat and radiation reflective material to cover the front, rear and sides of the vehicle and protect the rubber, plastic and trim parts of the vehicle from damage by heat lamps in the paint drying oven.
Car covers in general are well known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,433 discloses a process for masking and spray painting an automotive vehicle wherein the cover material includes a cotton cloth coated with a thin layer or a silicone resin containing powdered aluminum. U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,207 discloses a three piece, form fitting cover for a van type vehicle, but fails to disclose the type of material used to make the cover. U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,785 discloses another three piece, form fitting cover for an automobile wherein the cover material is preferably a laminate film of reflective metal located between an outer layer of Mylar and an inner layer of polyethylene which may also include scrim for reinforcement. However the cover disclosed is not intended to be disposable nor does the cover include any portions which are transparent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,760 discloses a disposable cover for an automobile intended for use as a preform mask for painting vehicles. The cover in this patent is preferably formed from paper or a combination of paper and a plastic backing. Tear out sections are provided which may be removed to expose predetermined portions of the vehicle for painting. And, finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,267 discloses a patchwork quilt-type car cover of different colors to aid the user in orienting the cover on the vehicle. However in no instance does any of the prior art address the problems solved by the present invention nor does the prior art disclose a cover structure remotely like the vehicle cover disclosed herein.